The Locked Tomb Trilogy by Tamsyn Muir

[HexMachina]

On 11/24/2020 at 4:54 PM, HelenaExMachina said:

They are golden and the audio for them is great too.

"Magnooooooooseeee" 

Oh my poor heart reading this back  damn, things turn very dark very quickly in this book. I know its all a bit macabre but i feel it starts off more darkly humorous and then flips to be much darker. Which isn’t a criticism, i actually liked the tonal shift, but it certainly surprised me.

Anyway, finished the audiobook today and wow, loved it all. The last part (the big fight) goes on maybe a little  too long but that is just a minor quibble and its not as though it bored me. In fact I stayed out walking far longer than I should have because i wamted to finish it up.

I think for the next one I’ll read it first. As I said, audio is great but a little hard to follow for a first time with the novel.

Also, I may just need to listen to the Epilogue again but what happened to the other third twin, Coronabeth(spelling? Im just going with the way its pronounced which, kind of an unfortunate name for 2020 but alas...) It seemed like the Emperor said only Herrow and the one Third twin survived but did I miss Corona dying or going missing? I thought she was just left in the lab

[williamjm]

10 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Oh my poor heart reading this back  damn, things turn very dark very quickly in this book. I know its all a bit macabre but i feel it starts off more darkly humorous and then flips to be much darker. Which isn’t a criticism, i actually liked the tonal shift, but it certainly surprised me.

Also, I may just need to listen to the Epilogue again but what happened to the other third twin, Coronabeth(spelling? Im just going with the way its pronounced which, kind of an unfortunate name for 2020 but alas...) It seemed like the Emperor said only Herrow and the one Third twin survived but did I miss Corona dying or going missing? I thought she was just left in the lab

You are remembering correctly...

The Emperor does indeed say that only Harrow and Ianthe were there when the rescuers arrived. You are correct that this leaves a mystery about what happened to three other survivors, the unfortunately-named Coronabeth, the Second Captain Deuteros and the cavalier Camilla.

I think one good thing about the first book is that it does manage to make us care about many of the supporting characters from the other Houses, they're not just there as antagonists or redshirts.

[HexMachina]

2 minutes ago, williamjm said:

You are remembering correctly...

 

  Hide contents

The Emperor does indeed say that only Harrow and Ianthe were there when the rescuers arrived. You are correct that this leaves a mystery about what happened to three other survivors, the unfortunately-named Coronabeth, the Second Captain Deuteros and the cavalier Camilla.

 

I think one good thing about the first book is that it does manage to make us care about many of the supporting characters from the other Houses, they're not just there as antagonists or redshirts.

Thanks! Must say that 2020 brain heard “Coronabeth” and thought guilty kill her now...

but yeah, i really loved all the secondary characters. Gideon was obviously the highlight as the narrator but i loved all the secondary characters and felt invested in them even when they only had brief page time. I guess the cast on Ninth House was a bit bland but that was the whole point really, as I read it anyway. They were a dying house fanatical in their worship of death. Though Gideon’s narration does make any time spent on the Ninth or recollecting the Ninth more enjoyable

I’ve read the spoiler tags for Gt9 now and I also assumed from the beginning

that this was set in our universe and the 9 houses were the 9 planets. I was trying to work out as soon as they landed whether the Facility matched any Earth landmarks or not. 

[karaddin]

Lol I only ever parsed in like the sun.

On 11/29/2020 at 11:55 AM, HelenaExMachina said:

Oh my poor heart reading this back  damn, things turn very dark very quickly in this book. I know its all a bit macabre but i feel it starts off more darkly humorous and then flips to be much darker. Which isn’t a criticism, i actually liked the tonal shift, but it certainly surprised me.

Anyway, finished the audiobook today and wow, loved it all. The last part (the big fight) goes on maybe a little  too long but that is just a minor quibble and its not as though it bored me. In fact I stayed out walking far longer than I should have because i wamted to finish it up.

I think for the next one I’ll read it first. As I said, audio is great but a little hard to follow for a first time with the novel.

Also, I may just need to listen to the Epilogue again but what happened to the other third twin, Coronabeth(spelling? Im just going with the way its pronounced which, kind of an unfortunate name for 2020 but alas...) It seemed like the Emperor said only Herrow and the one Third twin survived but did I miss Corona dying or going missing? I thought she was just left in the lab

1st bolded - yeah, that turn after they solve the first experiment makes my gut drop. They were so nice and then that happens. Then the sequence of Gideon with the teens  

2nd bolded - Amusingly the audiobook might actually make the second book easier to follow even on the first read. I think it makes things more challenging in the first book because you're not familiar with the setting or the characters yet. While the second book changes things up a fair bit, you've still got the basics of the setting down now, and it actually helps with the mind fuck of the second book.

On the last - very much intentional mystery that's part of the overall story, not just you being confused. The entire start of the second book is going to give you almost a gaslit feeling but its doing something with it that I think is worthwhile.

Ht9 also contains the best/worst dad joke in fantasy literature.

[Denvek]

2 hours ago, karaddin said:

Ht9 also contains the best/worst dad joke in fantasy literature.

I've not laughed that much at a book in a long time.

[Caligula_K3]

I finally got Harrow the Ninth from the library - I started reading it last night and I'm deeply confused. Which is exactly what I expected, based on what you've all said.

[williamjm]

13 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

I’m 30 pages in and it’s 1000 times more bonkers then the first. I’ve read some pretty bonkers sci-fi though so I’ve grown used to second person prose lately. 

It feels like second-person prose has become weirdly fashionable in SF/Fantasy in the last few years.

[Caligula_K3]

I'd be very down with the second person trend dying. Maybe this will be the rare book where it's used well, but it is very hard to pull off.

Bonkers is definitely the right word for Harrow the Ninth though- I'm enjoying it so far, though it's pretty slow reading as I try to keep track of everything, kind of like a Wolfe book (though not at that level of density yet).

[karaddin]

I like the 2nd person when it has a reason and the three books I've seen it in over the last few years - The Fifth Season, The Raven Tower, and this - all do have a be reason for it. I think this one is probably the strongest reason as well but I won't say more than that as I don't want to even hint at spoilers.

[Xray the Enforcer]

On 11/30/2020 at 1:18 AM, karaddin said:

 

Ht9 also contains the best/worst dad joke in fantasy literature.

Can you put it in spoilers or DM me? I totally can't remember this and I love a good dad joke.

[Caligula_K3]

I definitely agree that second person was used to great effect in Fifth Season; Raven's Tower is one of the ones I was thinking of where I felt it really weakened the book. I understand what Leckie was going for intellectually, but it's effect (for me at least) was to flatten all the characters who weren't the narrator.

Anyway, greatly enjoying the book as I get further, and I should probably stay out of this thread till I finish too.

 

[Denvek]

1 hour ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

Can you put it in spoilers or DM me? I totally can't remember this and I love a good dad joke.

Spoiler

 "Hi Not Fucking Dead, I'm Dad."

 

[karaddin]

4 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

Can you put it in spoilers or DM me? I totally can't remember this and I love a good dad joke.

 

3 hours ago, Denvek said:

  Hide contents

 "Hi Not Fucking Dead, I'm Dad."

 

Yup that one. If you're not remembering the context

Spoiler

Its near the end when Gideon and Ianthe are hiding behind the coats eavesdropping on God and the Lyctors interrogating Command Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity. They're talking about Gideon being dead and she charges into the room saying "I'm not fucking dead", despite being in Harrow's body, and that's the reply from God.

The dad joke may not have landed as well if you weren't really enjoying that whole set up but I was loving it, so it was hilarious.

 

[karaddin]

23 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Half way. This is the most INSANE BONKERS CRAZYSHIT book I have ever read.

There's room for more still! I've seen similar levels of wtfery in some shows but I don't think I have in books. Disorienting a reader is harder than visual medium. Farscape did it a few times, and I think a few episodes of the recent She-Ra show did an admirable mind fuck for a kids show.

[Xray the Enforcer]

15 hours ago, Denvek said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 "Hi Not Fucking Dead, I'm Dad."

 

 

11 hours ago, karaddin said:

 

Yup that one. If you're not remembering the context

  Reveal hidden contents

Its near the end when Gideon and Ianthe are hiding behind the coats eavesdropping on God and the Lyctors interrogating Command Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity. They're talking about Gideon being dead and she charges into the room saying "I'm not fucking dead", despite being in Harrow's body, and that's the reply from God.

The dad joke may not have landed as well if you weren't really enjoying that whole set up but I was loving it, so it was hilarious.

 

Oh yeah! That was definitely quality. Thank you for reminding me of that.

[karaddin]

15 minutes ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

 

Oh yeah! That was definitely quality. Thank you for reminding me of that.

The great thing about that bit in my spoiler box is i suspect even if someone read it before that part of the book it would still make very little sense and not be much of a spoiler. I'm also a big fan of that name 

[Caligula_K3]

180 pages in and enjoying it more and more. This is not actually a spoiler, just a guess, but I'm putting it into a spoiler box in case other readers don't want to read speculation:

Spoiler

Gideon is totally the second person narrator. Still no clue what's going on with the alternate version of the first book, though.

 

[karaddin]

@Caligula_K3 on your second spoiler point - yeah I absolutely didn't figure that one out, just was happily carried along on the ride.

[Caligula_K3]

I finally finished Harrow. Although I really enjoyed the first couple hundred pages, overall I liked it but didn't love it, for a lot of the reasons that posters have already listed in this thread.

Spoiler

Harrow (filtered in second person through Gideon) is just not as compelling a narrator, especially in her addled state that makes her a very different character from who she was in book 1. It's not a surprise that the book picks up as soon as Gideon's voice emerges again.

Although I enjoyed the "bonkers" nature of the book and sense of confusion as things opened, I'm not sure there was really much payoff for it; all of Harrowhark's letters don't actually do much of anything. The mystery became more tedious as the novel went on. I think less time could have been spent on all this (including all the Canaan House stuff, which became increasingly cheesy and unnecessary as it reached its climax), and more time spent on establishing the motivations for the Lyctors and God; a lot of the late developments felt like they came out of nowhere. I'm especially not convinced by Gideon (and therefore probably the author) telling us that Ianthe saving John was a bad thing; especially since it's proven without a doubt at the end of the book that if he dies, just about everything dies with him.

Overall, Muir was probably just too ambitious and couldn't pull it all off. But it is still an enjoyable novel and I'm looking forward to see how it all wraps up in #3.

Edited December 13, 2020 by Caligula_K3

[williamjm]

On 12/5/2020 at 4:29 AM, karaddin said:

@Caligula_K3 on your second spoiler point - yeah I absolutely didn't figure that one out, just was happily carried along on the ride.

It's obvious in retrospect but it took me ages to make the connection between the flooding and random body parts afflicting Canaan House and what it's like being immersed in the River.